Rand Paul Of Kentucky

The Ten Best And Ten Worst US Senators In The 118th Congress

Creating a list of the ten best and ten worst US Senators in the 118th Congress is based on their viewpoints and utterances over their careers.

Of course, it is subjective in nature, but based on careful consideration and analysis.

The rankings below are not in numbered order, but simply the Senators considered by the author to be the best and the worst in the upper chamber of Congress.

TEN BEST US SENATORS

Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Chris Murphy (Connecticut)
Jon Ossoff (Georgia)
Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts)
Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota)
Cory Booker (New Jersey)
Sherrod Brown (Ohio)
Jeff Merkley (Oregon)
Ron Wyden (Oregon)
Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island)

TEN WORST US SENATORS

Tommy Tuberville (Alabama)
Tom Cotton (Arkansas)
Rick Scott (Florida)
Rand Paul (Kentucky)
Josh Hawley (Missouri)
JD Vance (Ohio)
Lindsey Graham (South Carolina)
Ted Cruz (Texas)
Mike Lee (Utah)
Ron Johnson (Wisconsin)

If one was asked which five Senators were the “best” and the “worst”, this author and blogger would say the following:

BEST—Chris Murphy, Jon Osoff, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Sheldon Whitehouse

WORST—Tommy Tuberville, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson

The Anti Science And Anti Medicine Conservative And Republican Attacks!

The Conservative and Republican attack is not only on the truth and facts of American history, but even more dangerous is their attack on Science and Medicine, including the COVID 19 Pandemic!

Fox News Channel hosts Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, and Tucker Carlson peddled false information regarding the COVID 19 Pandemic and a general attack on Science and Medicine.

Also promoting false information were Republican Senators Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, as well as Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan.

And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also refused to take the pandemic seriously, costing more loss of life in Florida than anywhere else.

And DeSantis also attacked former White House Presidential Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci, who was the head of the National Institute of Of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, and trusted by Presidents of both parties from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden.

DeSantis rhetoric included calling Fauci “a little elf”, who should be grabbed and chucked across the Potomac, despicable insult and horrid language toward a medical doctor who devoted his life to dealing with the AIDS crisis and other epidemics for four decades!

Also, another critic has been Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, who Fauci called appropriately, “a very disturbed individual!”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Being A Vaccination Denier Will Doom His Presidential Candidacy!

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has been riding high since his overwhelming victory in the 2022 gubernatorial election, but his cockiness and arrogance has gone to his head, and he is on the way to self destruction as a Presidential candidate!

DeSantis has been reckless when it comes to science and public health, and has stirred a tempest in fighting against masks, vaccinations, and government promotion of science and public health guidelines regarding COVID 19!

Promoting an anti intellectual attitude and ignoring science and attacking the retiring and highly respected and honored Dr. Anthony Fauci may stir up the “KNOW NOTHINGS” in the radical right wing Republican camp, but it will NOT lead to his being elected President, even if he wins the nomination!

He is a supposedly “smarter” person than Donald Trump, since he has Ivy League credentials, from Yale University and Harvard Law School, but that does not mean anything other than that he has an enlarged ego without common sense!

One can be assured he will crash and burn, as many other so called “front runners” in past Republican Presidential contests have experienced, as for instance, Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and many others of their ilk!

Potential For Four New African American Senators

There have been 11 African American Senators in the 234 years of US Senate history.

Presently, there are three—Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina; and Democrats Cory Booker of New Jersey and Raphael Warnock of Georgia.

Prominent earlier African American Senators included Democrats Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama of Illinois; Democrat Kamala Harris of California; and Republican Edward Brooke of Massachusetts.

Now, there is the possibility of four additional African American Senators, if fortune works out.

They include: Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin; Cheri Beasley in North Carolina; Charles Booker in Kentucky; and Val Demings of Florida.

Barnes is competing against Ron Johnson in Wisconsin; Beasley againast Ted Budd in North Carolina; Booker against Rand Paul in Kentucky; and Demings against Marco Rubio in Florida.

All of these races are tight in polls, except Booker against Paul in Kentucky, where Booker is at a major disadvantage.

Also, Warnock is in a tight race against Republican Herschel Walker in Georgia, with both being African Americans.

Republican Attacks On Social Security And Medicare Arise Again: They Never Give Up!

Social Security has been under attack by Republicans and conservatives ever since its passage in 1935 as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

Medicare has been under attack by Republicans and conservatives ever since its passage in 1965 as part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society.

The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) has been under attack by Republicans and conservatives since its passage under Barack Obama in 2010!

Most recently, George W. Bush promoted privatization of Social Security, which failed to occur in 2004-2005, luckily so, as the Great Recession of 2008 would have destroyed those who invested in the stock market, rather than having the guarantee of Social Security.

Also, Mitt Romney proposed privatization of Medicare during his Presidential campaign in 2012.

Now, Senator Rick Scott of Florida, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin are the biggest backers of phasing out Social Security over five years! Also, Arizona Senatorial candidate Blake Masters has backed this idea!

If the Republicans were to win both houses of Congress and the Presidency by 2024, a great tragedy would occur!

As it is, Rand Paul and Ron Johnson face reelection this November, and every effort possible should be mounted to defeat these two horrendous US Senators! And Blake Masters needs to be defeated in his quest to be elected to the Senate!

Dr. Anthony Fauci: A True Hero Scientist Attacked By MAGA Republicans, Including Despot Ron DeSantis!

Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to President Biden, and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has served seven Presidents from Ronald Reagan to Joe Biden.

He is a national treasure, having dealt over four decades with the various Immunodeficiency diseases from AIDS onward to Swine Flu to Ebola to COVID 19.

He has had high respect and honors visited upon him, but now, as he plans to retire at age 82 at the end of 2022 after dedicated service to the nation, this hero scientist is being attacked by “MAGA” Republicans, including, most outrageously, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

DeSantis has acted like a despot as governor, and has called Fauci an “elf”, due to his short stature, and proposed tossing him across the Potomac, a total lack of respect for his intellectual brilliance and knowledge. This outrage is by a governor who presided over more COVID 19 deaths than other states, due to his refusal to enforce masking and vaccinations against a disease which still kills 400 people per day, and over one million in two and a half years!

Both DeSantis and Rand Paul are clearly anti science and health concerns, and they should both be defeated in their races for Governor in Florida and US Senate in Kentucky this November!

Potential For More African American Senators In 118th Congress (2023-2024)

The potential exists for the US Senate in the 118th Congress to have more African American members than ever before.

Altogether, there have been eleven African American Senators in American history, with three serving for the first time in 2017 when Kamala Harris joined the Senate, adding to Tim Scott and Cory Booker.

Raphael Warnock became the third serving at the same time, replacing Harris, who became Vice President in 2021!

Now, with Scott and Booker in the Senate, and Warnock running for reelection against another African American, former football player Herschel Walker, at least three African Americans will serve in the next Congress.

But there are others who are running for election to the Senate, including:

Congresswoman Val Demings of Florida against Senator Marco Rubio

Charles Booker of Kentucky against Senator Rand Paul

Cheri Beasley of North Carolina against Congressman Ted Budd

Mandela Barnes of Wisconsin against Senator Ron Johnson

So there could, in theory, be SEVEN African American Senators in the 118th Congress, if fortune worked out!

The Ohio, Pennsylvania, And Georgia Senate Races Will Test Trump Influence

With the conclusion of the Republican Senate nomination battle in Pennsylvania, the next five months will determine what influence Donald Trump has on the makeup of the US Senate in the 118th Congress (2023-2024), and whether the Democrats can retain the Senate and gain more seats.

In Ohio, J D Vance, who used to be a moderate, is contesting for the open Senate seat of Rob Portman, retiring, against Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan.

In Pennsylvania, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who used to be a moderate, is contesting for the open Senate set of Patrick Toomey, retiring, against Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman.

In Georgia, former Football player Herschel Walker, who has no real signs of intellectual ability, is contesting for the Senate seat of Democratic Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock, an all African American race, but one with a pastor in the tradition of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr, and like King, formerly pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

The three Republican nominees, were they elected, would join with the most horrendous Republican Senators already in the chamber, including Ted Cruz of Texas; Rand Paul of Kentucky (if he wins reelection); Ron Johnson of Wisconsin (if he wins reelection); Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Josh Hawley of Missouri; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; and Mike Lee of Utah (if he wins reelection). Of this group, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have already run for President in 2016, and Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley are also potential Presidential candidates in 2024.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul Delays Authorizing Military Aid To Ukraine Against Russian War Crimes!

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul has been a nightmare and embarrassment to the US Senate since he was elected in 2010.

He has followed the so called “Libertarian” mentality that his father, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, pursued during his years in Congress, a total of 12 terms.

He has been a critic of any federal actions on the COVID 19 Pandemic, and now is holding up much needed military aid of $40 billion to Ukraine in its struggle against the Russian Federation and its horrendous war crimes!

It is clear that Rand Paul has no soul, no ethics, no morality, no decency, no compassion, and he is an embarrassment to the US Senate, one of its worst members!

He sought the Presidency in 2016, and came across as an embarrassment to his home state of Kentucky.

He was elected in the time of the Tea Party Movement, and has always been outrageous in his utterances and actions, including refusal to accept the results of the Presidential Election of 2020, promoting the “Big Lie” that Donald Trump won and Joe Biden lost that election!

He faces reelection in November, and it is hoped that his Democratic opponent, Charles Booker, will be able to defeat him, although the odds are against it!

The Nightmare Battle For The Republican Presidential Nomination In 2024

What a nightmare the Republican Party faces in 2024, as trying to find a nominee who is decent, competent, and NOT tied to the disaster of Donald Trump is a long haul!

We begin with Donald Trump himself, who is rapidly losing support, but still has clout in the party, even though he is actually a cancer destroying the image and reputation of the party of Lincoln, TR,Ike, Reagan and George H. W. Bush!

Then we have former Vice President Mike Pence, whose only good deed was counting the Electoral College vote on January 6, 2021 properly and correctly, but there is no way imaginable that he could win the Republican Presidential nomination, and his religiosity is a real turn off to moderate voters.

Then there is a slimmed down former Secretary of State and Central Intelligence Agency Head Mike Pompeo, but his admiration of Vladimir Putin insures he is not going anywhere!

Then we have former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who once had stature and respect, but has lost all of that reputation being so much a lackey to Donald Trump, and at the same time, changing her mind regularly on the former President

Then, we have Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, all of whom are competing with each other to be further Right Wing than the others, including warring on truth, history, racial justice, women’s rights, and gay rights, as well as attacking the concept of masks and vaccinations during the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Florida is unique in that it has three Republicans all ambitious enough to think they should be President, including DeSantis, but also Senators Rick Scott (involved in Medicare Fraud), and Marco Rubio, who was a major critic of Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican competition for the Presidency, but has, like most Republican officeholders caved in and given up all principles in bowing to Trump throughout his Presidency, and refusing to strongly condemn the January 6, 2021 Insurrection!

The Senate is full of Presidential wannabes, besides Scott and Rubio, including Insurrectionist promoter Josh Hawley of Missouri, who put up his fist in support on January 6; Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Rand Paul of Kentucky; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; Ted Cruz of Texas; Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; and Tim Scott of South Carolina.

One can add to that list Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

There are also clear anti Trump Republicans, including Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger; Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney; Maryland Governor Larry Hogan; Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse; and Utah Senator Mitt Romney.